Most fire hydrants today exist above the surface of the ground. Most fire hydrants retained the water in a pipe that exists in the ground under the hydrant. A screw is located on top of the hydrant. When the screw is turned, it opens a valve located on the pipe and water moves from the pipe and into the hydrant. A fire person attaches a hose to a fitting on the side of the hydrant and the hose transports the water where needed to fight a fire. Current hydrants have a number of problems that have not been accurately addressed. The problems include the height of the fire hydrant above the surrounding area, making it susceptible to cars hitting the hydrant and people being injured by running into the hydrant. The hydrant is also not cosmetically pleasing. The cost of the fire hydrants is also expensive and is paid by the community for the installation, care and service of the hydrants. A number of designs have tried to address the problem with the hydrants by replacing the hydrant with a temporary cosmetic hydrant, but these designs require a modification of the pipe and or fitting that supplies water to the hydrant. Some exemplary examples of patents that have tried to address the present design of fire hydrants are presented herein.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,216,792 issued Apr. 17, 2001, 6,095,174 issued Aug. 1, 2000 and 5,901,738 issued May 11, 1999, all issued to Wayne Edwin Miller disclose a portable fire hydrant. The supply pipe from the water main is replaced with a custom replacement valve and up-pipe. A custom outer flange is also disclosed to protect the fittings and attachment means. The outer flange is the covered. When a fire hydrant is needed, the cover is lifted off and a portable fire hydrant is secured onto the up-pipe. A valve operator located on top of the portable fire hydrant is then turned to open the valve located in the ground near the supply line. While the Miller patents show an alternative to most present day fire hydrants, the Miller patents require alteration to the up-pipes and flanges that are being used. This would require a significant expense to change a single fire hydrant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,110 issued Sep. 8, 1998 to Milton Segal discloses a fire hydrant assembly where a dummy hydrant is mounted on the custom flange. When the use of the hydrant is needed, the dummy hydrant is removed from the base and the actual hydrant is secured to the custom flange. A valve operator located on top of the portable fire hydrant is then turned to open the valve located in the ground near the supply line. While Segal discloses a replacement hydrant, the hydrant is still significantly above the surrounding landscape, making the hydrant and people susceptible to harm. The mounting flange further does not have connections for use with the bolt pattern that is common with present day fire hydrants.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,179 issued Aug. 14, 1973 to Luther C. Atkins et al., discloses a portable fire hydrant. The portable fire hydrant has a removable hydrant body. One of the requirements of this invention is the use of a ball valve that mounts to the existing water main. The main advantage of this design is for the ball valve to stop the flow of water if the hydrant is removed or broken from the base. In the event of damage or removal of the hydrant, a spring will push the ball valve into the valve seat to stop the flow of any additional water. While this invention provides a potable replacement hydrant, the hydrant still exists above the surrounding landscape and there is not a provision for providing a low profile cover. The invention further requires modification of the underlying valve or complete replacement of the underlying valve.
What is needed is a simple replacement to common fire hydrants that provides a low profile cover that is designed to work with the existing hole pattern of standard fire hydrants. The proposed device provides a solution with mounting flange and hydrant that can be quickly installed and removed by fire fighters when needed. When not needed a cover protects the installation site from vandalism and harm to people and vehicles.